1496: Thinking Ahead

[Keith]

"You’re trying to piss him off! Are you not trying to piss – what are you trying to do?!"

[invader]

A lot of stores do have people line up, but then people just push and shove and line jump, and then that's when everyone pushes forward and fools get trampled. If there are only 100 50" flat screen televisions on sale for 9.99 then three hundred people aren't going to quietly line up outside to get one. I say let the fools trample each other.

[Cubeforce]

Glad the show is back! A whole week without shows sucks.

[HeyAnne]

So glad I am a VIP member - downloaded a bunch of older shows during your short hiatus -- rediscovered the last one with Myq and Michah and laughed and laughed my ass off. Michah's impersonation of Keith was so funny, I nearly crashed my car laughing so hard!!!

Off to listen to this show.

[WSEIII]

Ah, so Cat is 25, this makes more sense for her to get her masters.

[RachaelBachael]

My birthday is in January, about 3 weeks after Christmas and I agree about getting shafted.

Of course growing up, my parents would make a big deal of my birthday, but as I've gotten older, I've gotten a lot of items for both Christmas and my birthday in one. Or I'll get a big ticket item, like a camera for Christmas and an accessory, like a camera case for my birthday.

Every year I make a list for my family with ideas of what to get me and it's a combined Christmas and Birthday list. One year my mom even went and brought out my birthday presents that she had already wrapped and hidden on Christmas morning when she realized I had a good 10 presents less than my siblings to open that year (we take turns opening, so I had been sitting there awkwardly, i was a teenager at the time).

Asking for an expensive "big" gift for my birthday was always met with "but you got this big item for Christmas just 2 weeks ago" where as my siblings were months away from Christmas so no one could remember what they had gotten and throw it back in their face.

Often times, a birthday activity was given as a Christmas gift. When I was in middle school my parents got me tickets to the Backstreet boys concert for my sister, a friend, my mom and I as a Christmas gift. The concert was my birthday party. If I had been born in May and the concert was in June, the concert would have been my birthday party and would have been given as a birthday present, not a Christmas present. I didn't receive any other birthday gifts that year (besides one from my friend) because the concert and a t-shirt from the show were my present.

It's similar with friends. Lots of friends would forget during grade school, as my birthday usually fell on the first day back to school from a long winter break. In college I would usually celebrate later as the first day of the new semester isn't the best time to go out partying when people are working out their classes, getting their books, etc. and gearing up for a new semester.

I don't have the worst birthday though. I do think it's worse to be born a few days before Christmas, or on Christmas day. Those people usually celebrate their half birthdays or they get totally screwed.

[eoguy]

While I think Keith was "right" in the sense that Cat overreacted with her emotions, I do see Chemda's point and can understand everything she's saying. In fact, I have to thank Chemda because she made me reconsider some of my points of view on the situation.

Even though I'm gay, I've run into this situation more than once, usually on birthdays, so it's not necessarily a "girl" thing, though I still think of it as a strongly emotional reaction that never made sense to me. I guess because I think more like Keith would, I don't think it'd be a huge deal if I didn't get a card or whatever on my birthday.

[Blitzgal]

Pepper spray is included on the Scoville scale. The highest grade is four times hotter on the scale than a habanero pepper, and almost twice as hot as the ghost chili pepper.

Scoville scale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I want to see one of these idiot talking heads on Fox offer themselves up to be pepper sprayed to show everyone just how tame of a food item it is. A few of them have been dumb enough to get tased, and one blowhard radio host even submitted himself to waterboarding:

Mancow Waterboarded, Admits It's Torture | NBC Chicago

*As a sidenote, I love that the word "blastemy," has officially replaced the word "blasphemy" on this show. Makes me lol every time.

[thirteen]

I thought the debate between Keith and Chemda was really good. Especially from Chemda, who brought up things that people don't always think about in depth when it comes to these situations. I'm usually a fan of the "don't make it a huge deal" thought process, but I've come to learn that birthdays are a big deal to a lot of people. And I act accordingly. You don't break up with someone over it if something like that goes wrong once (that's ridiculous), but it's entirely reasonable to have a discussion to be better informed for the future. It's more about what exactly the other person wants than what you would want.

And yeah, people always get shafted if their birthdays around the holidays. My parents are born on Christmas Eve and right before New Year's, and they both get combined presents and parties all the time. It's easier for people to hit multiple birds with one stone. They didn't celebrate Christmas much when they were younger though. It's more of a big deal over here in North America.

[andsoitgoes]

My birthday is on the 27th of November, and it was always decent. My parents always made sure to make me feel special and separate.

My daughters have birthdays at the end of January, and it wasn't until them that I realized how fucking hard this is, financially. The birthday party alone runs a few hundred dollars. Then more for goodie bags, food, cake, etc.

This will lessen as they get older, but now.. It becomes a choice of what to do, party or lots of presents. But I've also got twins, so everything is double at the same damn time. Thankfully I can combine games, systems, movies... But other stuff? Although they may suffer in comparison to some kids, they at least stay consistent with each other.

As for me, my birthday is pretty much negligible. We replaced our TV and spent a few hundred extra, so that became my present. That's generally how it goes.

As for the present for Cat, fuck dude, go spend $50 and get her a nice piece of jewelry. I got some nice stuff for my wife at wal-Mart, of all places, and it's actually very nice, and cost all of $60. It doesn't cost much to simply get her something to show you care. If she isn't okay with an honest and daring gesture, then that's on her.

Simply put though, we buy too much shit for people. Christmas and birthday presents go above and beyond. I'm spoiled and entitled now, and I wish I hadn't gotten everything I wanted. It's sickening. I know that I give my kids too much, but I don't give them near as much as some people do. No $500 iPads. No 40 Presents. Their main presents for Christmas are 2 stupid fijits and the skylanders game. The other stuff, games and shit, nothing stupid in comparison.

In the coming years, I plan on reducing it further. I refuse to have them turn out like I did.

In summary, go buy her something. She deserves it, putting up with your shit